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President Obama Finally Visits an American Mosque

By Francis X. Clines February 3, 2016 4:46 pmFebruary 3, 2016 4:46 pm

Photo

President Obama at the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque.Credit Drew Angerer for The New York Times

President Obama’s very first visit to a United States mosque did not happen until this week, in his final year in office. The fact that it had never happened before made the event remarkable and, sadly, a bit risky amid the anti-Muslim vitriol sweeping the nation. Mr. Obama made his purpose clear in arriving Wednesday at the Islamic Society of Baltimore. He simply wanted to say something positive about Muslim Americans and their numerous contributions as responsible citizens in the face of steady denunciations from Republican candidates in the presidential campaign.

Mr. Obama noted “the inexcusable political rhetoric” directed against Muslims. But he skirted direct partisanship by never referring to Republicans by name or party, preferring a gentler note: “We can’t be bystanders to bigotry.” The audience easily got his point. They responded warmly, sometimes passionately to presidential rhetoric that in another context — a church or a synagogue — would be familiar boilerplate: “We are one American family.” And: “Your fellow Americans stand with you.” And: “An attack on one faith is an attack on all faiths.”

His appearance was received with repeated applause. Mr. Obama was obviously as comforting for Muslim Americans in the mosque as President George W. Bush was when he quickly denounced the 9/11 terrorists as traitors to their faith and roundly affirmed, “Islam is peace.”

The Republican presidential candidates have offered a barrage of nativist comments to dispute Mr. Bush, reacting to terrorist incidents with generalizations about Muslim Americans. Candidates propose a national database of Muslims or a ban on Islamic refugees from Middle Eastern countries. The Iowa Republican caucus competition regularly featured invocations of this nation’s “Judeo-Christian heritage,” a phrase that sounded exclusionary amid the fears being exploited about Islam.

In this first visit to a homeland mosque, President Obama smiled as he noted that opponents accused Thomas Jefferson of being a Muslim, just as critics continue to deny Mr. Obama’s Christianity. He kept to his main point of reassuring Muslim Americans that they are true Americans. “Let your light shine,” he said, employing an encouraging bit of Christian lyric. To troubled teenagers in the audience he emphasized: “You fit in here.” And to all: “We will rise or fall together.” There was no immediate reaction from the hustings.